Death it is for the accused

Observing that the rape and murder of a 22-year-old BPO employee in Pune has had a deep impact on society and women travelling alone,Bombay High Court upheld on Monday the death penalty awarded to the two accused.

Observing that the rape and murder of a 22-year-old BPO employee in Pune has had a deep impact on society and women travelling alone,Bombay High Court upheld on Monday the death penalty awarded to the two accused.

A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode confirmed death to Purushottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade for kidnapping,raping and murdering the victim,the Wipro BPO employee on November 1,2007.

We are confirming the death sentence awarded to the duo by the sessions court. The manner is which the offence was committed and the deep impact it has had on society have been considered by us. Any woman will now think twice before taking a cab alone, Justice Kanade said.

The prosecution said the woman boarded her regular cab to report for night shift. Cab driver Borate,who was accompanied by friend Kokade,however,changed the route and took the woman to a remote place where they raped her.

The two then strangled her to death and disfigured her face using a sharp weapon to hide identity. The body was recovered the next day following which the two were arrested.

Considering the circumstances we feel constraint regarding punishment is not an option. The death penalty has been confirmed after giving it a lot of thought, the court said.

The bench had earlier observed that the two had committed a series of acts which were very serious in nature and questioned whether those could be considered as an additional circumstance to make it a rarest of rare case.